We take a look back at the best movers and shakers at this year’s Sydney Festival.

As Australians across the country fired up their barbies to celebrate Australia Day, Sydneysiders also bid a fond farewell to another Sydney Festival. From intimate cabaret acts in the Famous Spiegeltent at the heart of the festival’s pop-up village in Hyde Park, to spectacular big-budget blockbusters on Sydney’s largest stages, Belgian Artistic Director Lieven Bertels assembled a truly varied and international program for 2015’s offering. However by far the most ambitious, substantial and costly productions from this year’s line-up have been the dance shows.

Tabac Rouge

For this year’s headline act appearing at the Sydney Theatre, Bertels turned to an old favourite of the Sydney Festival, French circus maverick, James Thierrée. While 2015’s appearance would be Thierrée’s fourth at the festival, his most recent production for his physical theatre troupe Compagnie du Hanneton, Tabac Rouge, was a bold choice for the jewel in 2015’s festival crown. Lukewarm reviews from the show’s premiere tour in 2013 left some cultural commentators questioning why this show deserved such a lofty position...